memeorandum: Planless Dems — Earlier this month, Moody's downgraded Irish government debt to junk. (Mark Steyn/National Review)

12:45 PM ET, July 24, 2011

Top Items:

Obama and Boehner Back at the Altar? — ABC's Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports: — With the opening of Asian markets now hours away and talks between Congressional leaders at a stand-still, ABC News has learned of a new high-stakes turn in the debt ceiling drama.

Discussion: Politics, Mediaite and blogs.abcnews.com

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — GOP readies new debt ceiling plan; bill set for Sunday — House Republicans are finishing work on a new proposal to resolve the standoff over the debt ceiling. The proposal, set to be finished and crafted into the form of a bill by Sunday, will be in two parts.

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Washington Post, James Pethokoukis, Power Line, A plain blog about politics and The Lonely Conservative

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Congress ditches Obama on debt talks — First came the Biden talks. When those blew up, the Obama-Boehner talks took center stage. And when that failed, the McConnell-Reid talks looked promising. And after they faltered, the Obama-Boehner talks tried to find a new life.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Weasel Zippers

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

If Boehner prioritizes blame over success — The House went through the motions earlier this week, passing a radical “Cut, Cap, and Balance” debt-reduction plan that Republicans knew would fail. They did this as a sort of vanity exercise, intended to make GOP lawmakers and their activist base feel better about themselves.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Boehner paints two-step deal as only option — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Sunday that since a two-step deal is now the only way to implement a long-term deficit reduction plan, President Barack Obama should consider a Republican proposal to raise the debt limit until early next year rather …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Boehner prepared to move debt plan by himself — House Speaker John Boehner says the short-term measure he plans to announce Sunday to avert a debt limit crisis may not get support from Democratic leaders, but he'll push forward even without such backing. — “The preferable path …

Steve Clemons / The Atlantic Online:

Boehner's Market Signals? Did August 2nd Just Become Tomorrow? — Unbelievable. The scripting of this high stakes drama between House Speaker John Boehner balancing the White House on one side and the never compromise, never surrender Tea Party on the other keeps getting better and better.

Discussion: TPMDC, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, Talking Points Memo and Booman Tribune

The Hill:

Geithner: Deal must remove default threat through 2012 election — Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner showed little enthusiasm for a two-tiered debt-limit vote being discussed in Congress Sunday, saying it “makes no sense” to leave the threat of default hanging until the next election.

Discussion: The Confluence

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Speaker Boehner: President Obama ‘worried about his next election’ — With his self-imposed deadline for releasing a deficit plan before overseas markets open just a few hours away, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said both sides were “not there yet” and pushed for a two-stage debt-limit vote.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Boehner tells GOP he will unveil new debt strategy

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Reuters, State of the Union, Pirate's Cove, Wall Street Journal, Angry Bear, The Raw Story and The Huffington Post

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
‘Super Congress’: Debt Ceiling Negotiators Aim To Create New Legislative Body

Discussion: naked capitalism, Taylor Marsh and Hullabaloo

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Boehner Set To Call Obama's Bluff In Push For Short-Term Debt Ceiling Deal

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Reaction, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weasel Zippers, TPMDC, The Gateway Pundit, The Mahablog and Political Punch

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Boehner aims to release new debt plan by Sunday afternoon

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, The Gateway Pundit and New York Times

Jamie Klatell / The Hill:
Reid: ‘I hope GOP leaders will reconsider their intransigence’ in negotiations

Discussion: CNN

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Pelosi says leaders looking at two-tiered debt approach

Discussion: Hot Air and National Review

Bloomberg:
Boehner Said to Tell Republicans Positive Signal Needed for Asian Markets

Discussion: Sky Dancing and New York Times

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Make Way for the Radical Center — DID I mention that I've signed a pledge — just like those Republican congressmen who have signed written promises to different political enforcers not to raise taxes or permit same-sex marriage? My pledge is to never vote for anyone stupid enough to sign a pledge …

Discussion: Economist's View, Lean Left, Cogitamus, AMERICAN FUTURE and The Daily Beast

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

Republicans, Zealots and Our Security — IF China or Iran threatened our national credit rating and tried to drive up our interest rates, or if they sought to damage our education system, we would erupt in outrage. — Well, wake up to the national security threat.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, PoliPundit.com and NewsBusters.org

Paul Krugman:

President Pushover — The redoubtable Elizabeth Drew has a forthcoming article in the New York Review of Books — not yet online — that confirms all our worst fears. She tells us that past concessions have … Even more alarming, however, is her window on what the White House is thinking:

Mark Bittman / New York Times:

Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables — Mark Bittman writes about food for the opinion section. — WHAT will it take to get Americans to change our eating habits? The need is indisputable, since heart disease, diabetes and cancer are all in large part caused by the Standard American Diet.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, americanthinker.com, LewRockwell.com Blog, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and naked capitalism

Oregonian:

Oregon Rep. David Wu hears calls to resign after revelations of unwanted sexual encounter — BY CHARLES POPE, BETH SLOVIC and HARRY ESTEVE — Pressure on Democratic Rep. David Wu to resign intensified Saturday as leaders in his own party began confronting the embattled Oregon lawmaker …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Scared Monkeys, Gawker, Pajamas Media and The Hill

John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Troubled David Wu reaches out to Nancy Pelosi

Discussion: Red Dog Report

Margaret Sullivan / Buffalo News:

Same-sex couples rush to say ‘I do’ — NIAGARA FALLS — At the very moment the state extended the right to marry to same-sex couples, Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd — surrounded by hundreds of friends and well-wishers in a historic ceremony against the backdrop of the rainbow-lit Falls — said, “I do.”